Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-08-05

m would not look up. / determined
L would not. belong TO seU-pais-.-e-

1 would not. L belong TO a seU-paiis---o.
Monroe-Not easily upset
R-Well, had l looked, certainly should
have seen him. or seemed to- did not, would
not, never have; all the same, he was there
or the impression that he was as COM
plete and perfect as if my eyes, the touch
of my hands, had verified tiff it was touch
able. Well, all 1 had to do was to feed.
There was plenty of hay just over the bay. l
took a fork, got over the grit, pitched the
hay over and fed each of the COWS, he1fers
and steers-compelling myself to do 1t
leis,lrely. and well-all the time feeling the
eyes of the impish figure, perched above me,
watching every motion. When it was done,
spoke out. There, that viii do, think" /
stood half expecting an answer; got none,
and went out, closed the door. and as did SO
from the outside, there l seemed to hear
a little low, chuckling laugh opened the
door again; Of course all was still save the
cattle As went away l seemed to hear the
calls to the cows as usual So strong was
the impression that went to the house and
loo'-ed at the dead face in the coffin, clean
shaved, dark, a manly, handsome face, with
; black hair slightly gray, early gray, showing
/ a fine. high, narrow forehead, serene, soft,
! the face almost sweet in its expression. As
looked upon it the weird impression drifted
I out and away from me- The next day was
/ the funeral of course. That was in the reign
of John Whitlan, my young Englishman.
He came over young and had learned to be
like us, though the things in which an Eng
| lishman is most like an American are the
ones in which he resembles US the least, find.
"That's So" affirmed Monroe, who lived On
the border of small England.
GWell," resumed r., Il managed so that
John Whtlan should attend at the lower
barn the night after the funeral The pro-
prietor had been solemnly buried in the pres
ence Of near thousand and l wished to test
my illusion. / said not a world never have
save as l do now. Well, John went whist
ling on in his large way down across the
road. 1t was getting dusk and l waited and
watched over the border. Well, in about ten
minutes or less he came hurrying back too
excited to speak. | met him outside. Made
short work. l said to him. Short work. his
eyes starting, his face CHASTITY. BY he's
there-the old man himself, cooked up on the
big beam therev 'Sh-h-h-h,' said, trying to
hush him up. well, by - lie is Nothing
but your John Bull Imagination said;
enough to brighten anybody but a Yankee
You may go an see for yourself he an
swered. Il will / took a lantern and went
with him. On the way he told me that he
heard a voice inside the barn; he paid no at
tention. opened the stable door, when Ans
comb called down: Cherry, Brin, Spot. Suke,'
and so on as the cows went in. He rushed to
the door leading to the barn floor and
there sat Anscomb on the big beam. John
broke for me- English are plucky enough
where mere flesh is concerned-this was too
much. As we approached the barn-'ThereI
there! Don't you hear him? Don't you hear
himp exclaimed John. Well, / did seem to,
but let on nothing. The door was open, l
stepped in, John followed. 'ThereI therel
there! See i'm See imp John cried, in an
awfully frightened voice. 1 felt him, would
not look up but quietly Lit the wick, which
burned up quick, and strongly,
Il held it up, and did look up. The beam
was vacant, all the upper part empty 4 see
nothingr answered, shifting the lamp about.
BY - by -! nor do L. said Whitlan,
about as much surprised as before. Here,
hold the lantern, while 1 feed them,' said to
him He took the FORK pitched the hay over
the girt, and distributed it to the waiting
cattle We went out, closed the door in 81
lence, and moved away There! there!
Don't you hear iml Don't you hear 'imr ex-
claimed John. l laughed in a make as if
way, the best 1 could do. l thot l did hear
him, and continued to, till some rods away.
Il told Whitlan to hold his tongue for his
own sake, as well as for the sake of our neigh
bors. Nobody would believe he had seen or
heard anything, and it would only annoy
the family. l don't think he did for some
time after.
'Well, the boys themselves, with some of
their cousins-who came to stay with them
did the chores there or undertook to, the next
night. They heard the voice, saw the impish
figure, ran back to the house, sent over to me,
and with my lantern 1 went over. 1t was
worse time than on the first night-the night |
of the tragedy. OF course, when l went, it |
was still, and nothing could be seen. l tried |
to explain it away, as mere, rather wide |
spread illusion, amounting to delusion, and |
such have always regarded it, and pacified |
them for the time. Well, it was the same
the next night, and the next 1 told them
they had for the time better remove the |
cattle and not use the barn, for the ghost had |
now taken such hold of them that there |
would be no other way, feared.
"That was the beginning of it Everything |
was right in the morning, during the day, all |
day, till the approach of night, then the calls |
began, and when the inside was dusky with |
oncoming night, men fancied they saw the |
shapeleSs form. Light up and it vanished |
with the shadows, nor YVES the voice heard |
when any one was in the barn. Go out, close |
the door, and it began again. Sometimes, |
when one left, the first thing was a low, |
snickcring laugh. Well, it was all over |
from that night. 1t got out-the neighbors |
came, till far and near there was excitement |
it got into the papers. Once in while one |
came who could neither see nor hear any |
thing Finally the season grew warm, the |
cattle were changed to sheds elsewhere but it |
made no difference with the thing, whatever |
it was, something or nothing, that remained. |
Those who wanted it could always find it, at |
twilight, could hear it, seem to see it in the |
dusk. Strike light and it was not there.
"They used the barn that summer, but never |
after much. a new house was built further |
away. The frost finally upset the underpin- |
ming at one corner. which fell down little. !
Weeds grew rank about it; finally trees came
up around it. Folks had fancy for pines
and funeral evergreens at an early day, and
there was clump of these that quite cut the
old barn off from the old house. A thicket
of wild plums from one originally planted
grew up, tall and thick, between it and the
road. Naples, beeches, sprang up. The
swallows ceased to build in it, the rats de-
serted it, men ceased to speak of it, no one
went near it, and so it in a way died off. It
is there still. y
Then there was talk about what it was, if
anything, among the old boys Of whom the
two from Michigan had never visited the